“Clubhouse,” CBS’s new Tuesday 9 p.m. baseball
drama, is a very sweet, very earnest show with one seemingly major problem: It’s set
in the wrong decade.
Rather than trying to tackle modern-day dilemmas like steroids and divorce,
plot devices that fall flat in the pilot, the show should have chosen a 1960s setting a la
NBC’s “American Dreams.”
Then its naivety would seem believable rather than ridiculous. And the show
wouldn’t be forced to self-consciously wade into big-issue areas where it seems both
uninformed and a little late to make an impact.
Seriously, didn’t the divorced parent drama go out with the ‘90s?
One of three Mel Gibson-produced shows to make the fall schedule,
“Clubhouse” tells the story of Pete Young (Jeremy Sumpter), a 16-year-old who
lands a dream job as batboy for the New York Empires, which represent the New York Yankees
without the licensing fee.
The main conflict is that Pete, for reasons that aren’t explained until
too late in the story, does not tell his mom about this job and ends up sneaking off to
opening day behind her back. On his first afternoon he’s asked by one of the
team’s stars to drop a Ferrari off at a local garage.
Already our credulity is being stretched, because No. 1, what star in his
right mind would entrust a $100,000-plus car to a kid he just met, and No. 2, Pete
doesn’t look old enough to be in high school, much less have a driver’s license.
That makes a later romance plot point all the more painful.
Pete fails to get the car to the garage and later, in a move totally
uncharacteristic for such a cautious kid, gets busted for speeding. When the cops pull him
over, they find steroids in the car.
How timely.
Pete insists that they’re his to cover for the team, but ultimately he
has to decide whether living with that lie and its consequences are worth sacrificing his
personal pride and perhaps his educational future.
CBS probably hoped that just by mentioning the word “steroids”
it would get a tune-in of 15 million, thanks to all the publicity this year about juiced
baseball players. But the storyline comes from out of nowhere and is so tidily dealt with
and dismissed that it carries a “Law & Order” ripped-from-the-headlines
quality--not enough substance for a multi-layered issue.
CBS would have been better off setting the show several decades back. The
premise of a boy enthralled by the sport (or enthralled by anything these days, really,
outside of video games) would ring truer, the show wouldn’t have to bend the
storylines to include current events, and we wouldn’t have to guffaw when team
superstar Conrad Dean (Dean Cain) shows up at Pete’s door to deliver a message of
tolerance and forgiveness.
Something tells us that Derek Jeter wouldn’t do the same.
The show’s weakest link may be the whole baseball connection. This
is a family drama, not an issue show. Die-hard sports fans won’t be fooled by the
pinstripes, and sports shows don’t have a strong record on TV. Making the baseball
aspect more peripheral would be a smart move.
Get rid of those problems and “Clubhouse” becomes a likeable family
drama, heavy on the schmaltz but with enough great supporting actors (Christopher Lloyd as
crusty equipment manager Lou and Mare Winningham as harried single mom Lynne) to keep
viewers interested. Quality of show (on a scale of 10): 6
This is unquestionably the second-best new show on CBS this year, behind
“CSI: New York,” but considering how bad the network’s other offerings are,
that doesn’t say much.
Though Sumpter isn’t a great actor, he is likeable. Asked how he got the
Empire batboy job, he explains, “I sent 62 letters and followed up with a phone call
every day for a year.”
The Lou character holds promise because of his admitted history with
that other ball club, the Yankees. Lloyd plays him as low-key as Lloyd is capable of, and
his quirkiness works quite well compared with the blandness of most of the baseball
players, with the exception of the adorable John Ortiz as an eager-to-succeed rookie.
Winningham shows just the right amount of exasperation as mom to Pete and his
troublemaker older sister, Betsy (Kirsten Storms). But she doesn’t get great
material. During a fight she asks Betsy how she can “reach her,” and Betsy snaps
back, “I don’t know, send me an email.”
It’s trying-to-be-hip lines like this that underline how quaint
“Clubhouse’s” basic premise is and how much better it would fit in another
time.
Positioning (on a scale of 10): 2
The show’s special preview Sunday night did not get off to a good start,
and things could get even worse in its regular time slot. Sunday the show averaged a 1.9
adults 18-49 rating.
Numbers like that will have “Clubhouse” canceled in a New York
minute. Former time-slot occupant “The Guardian,” which performed well among
households but ranked 94th among 18-49s last season, was dropped to make way for a
younger-skewing show, reflecting CBS’s sudden success in that demo and commitment to
further gains.
This isn’t that show.
It won’t get a huge boost from lead-in “NCIS,” which also
skews older. And with solid family comedies airing opposite on ABC, it may not draw the
family crowd, either.
In fact, it’s a bit unclear just who CBS is aiming for, since sports
fans obviously weren’t interested in the premiere, either.
Cachet, or the “Arrested Development” factor (on a
scale of 10): 3
Gibson’s involvement gives the show a boost, as do well-known supporting
actors Cain, Winningham and Lloyd.
But reviewers seem to be getting a toothache from the overly sweet premise.
And that opening-night 1.9 will be darn hard to overlook.
Overall (on a scale of 30): 11
There are the ingredients of a decent show, but they’re not assembled
correctly. This could be one of the season’s first casualties.
The Media Life Meter
Rating
fall’s new shows |
| |
“Clubhouse” (CBS) |
Avg. for all 2004-’05 shows |
Quality of show (on a scale of 10) –
Grading the writing, acting, premise and creativity of the show. Is it any good? |
6 |
5.1 |
Positioning (on a scale of 10) – Does the
show have a tough time slot or a compatible lead-in? Is the subject matter appropriate to
the network on which it airs?
|
2 |
5 |
Cachet, or the “Arrested Development”
factor (on a scale of 10) – Examining the reviews, the star power and the
prestige the network gets for the project. “Arrested,” for example, has high
cachet for being well reviewed and intelligent, even though its ratings aren’t great. |
3 |
4.4 |
TOTAL |
11 |
14.5 |
Probability
of Survival |
|
30-27 |
Odds are this
show will make it to next season. |
26-22 |
Odds are this
show will make it through this season. |
21-15 |
Show may not
survive the season. |
15-9 |
Show will be
canceled sometime this season. |
8 or lower |
Catch it while
you can – this show may not make it to four episodes. |
| Source: Media Life |
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